Turkey welcomes ‘peaceful, tranquil’ Kazakhstan polls

By Handan Kazanci

ISTANBUL (AA) – Turkey on Sunday welcomed “peaceful and tranquil” parliamentary and local councils elections in Kazakhstan.

“We are pleased that the elections held today, for the lower chamber of the Parliament (Majlis) and the Local Councils (Maslihat) were conducted in a peaceful and tranquil manner across the country,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

“We wish that the elections will be auspicious for the brotherly and friendly people of Kazakhstan,” the statement added.

“We believe that our strategic cooperation with Kazakhstan, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary of its independence this year, will be further enhanced in the upcoming period,” it read.

With the polls closing in Kazakhstan’s parliamentary election on Sunday, the country’s election authority announced 63.3% voter turnout.

According to the Central Election Commission, a low voter turnout in the capital Nur-Sultan and the most populated city Almaty were recorded, at 45.1% and 30.3% respectively.

Around 12 million registered voters headed to polls to elect deputies for the lower chamber of parliament for a five-year term.